Published since 1915 by the students
of Xavier University
Nearly perfect: Lavender 9-of-10 in romp
Musketeers set 3’s record as Doellman goes down with ankle sprain
John LaFollette
Sports Editor
Sizzling shooting and a career high 31 points from junior guard Drew Lavender paved the way for a 91-57 Musketeer win over the Charlotte 49ers last Saturday at Cintas Center.
A school record 16 3-pointers was overshadowed by another Musketeer injury, this time a sprained ankle for senior forward Justin Doellman which will sideline him indefinitely.
Without regular starters Doellman and junior forward Josh Duncan, Lavender made 7-of-8 3-pointers, including a buzzer beater from 55 feet away that brought the sold-out crowd to its feet and gave the Musketeers a 20-point halftime lead.
The Musketeers held the 49ers to a 32.9 field goal percentage, including 6.9 percent from beyond the arc, in the worst shooting performance by a Xavier opponent this season.
After passing Brian Grant on the Xavier career blocked shots list with his 128th block, Doellman landed on the foot of a Charlotte player and rolled his ankle just four minutes into the game.
Doellman immediately called for assistance from the Xavier sideline, but hobbled to the bench before athletic trainer Mike Mulcahey could come to his aid.
With a towel draped over his head, Doellman was briefly examined on the bench by Mulcahey before returning to the locker room to be fitted with a walking cast.
Post-game X-rays came back negative, but it is possible that Doellman’s Favre-ian consecutive starts streak could come to an end at 112.
With the sprained ankle, Doellman joins a growing injured list that already includes Duncan, who sprained his ankle in the opening minutes of Xavier’s 92-66 win at St. Bonaventure, freshman guard Adrion Graves, who recently had surgery for a bacterial infection, and freshman center Jason Love, who sustained an ugly cut on his left leg after crashing into the scorer’s table in practice on Jan. 29.
Love played 13 minutes against Charlotte with 25 staples holding the cut together and thick padding surrounding his knee.
Head coach Sean Miller said the injury was evidently not as serious as it appeared to be in practice, but gave Love credit for being able to play when the team needed him.
“[His knee] appeared to have almost exploded and the only thing you could see was just his knee; there was no blood,” Miller said. “It was great to be able to put him in the game, and I think it says a lot about who he is.”
While depth has been one of the Musketeers’ biggest strengths this year, the recent rash of injuries has created some lineup issues.
Relative inexperience with different lineups contributed to 21 turnovers and 93 points allowed in last week’s inexplicable loss at Duquesne.
Doellman’s status is day-to-day, but Miller said that his injury is not season-ending.
Still, his absence could change the dynamics of Xavier’s upcoming games against St. Louis and George Washington.
Doellman had averaged 22.3 points over the last three games before his injury, and leads the team in rebounding with 6.0 per game.
Lavender and junior guard Stanley Burrell will have to continue their improved offensive and defensive play in order for Xavier to return to the Atlantic 10 lead.
Lavender has averaged 13.8 points and 5.1 assists in Xavier’s nine conference games. His 61.5 percent 3-point shooting leads the Atlantic 10, and his 2.88-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio is fourth in the league.
Numbers like those have earned Lavender his first Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Week. Lavender is Xavier’s first A-10 weekly honoree since Brian Thornton last season.
Next for Xavier is a 7 p.m. game against Saint Louis on Wednesday, Feb. 7, at Cintas Center, and a trip to the nation’s capital for a 8 p.m. ESPN2 game against George Washington on Saturday.
Record rejections send Explorers packing
John LaFollette
Sports Editor
Senior forward Joei Clyburn’s 16 points, eight blocks and eight rebounds led the Xavier women’s basketball team to a 75-64 come-from-behind victory over LaSalle last Sunday at Cintas Center.
The Musketeers improved to 17-7 for the season and 5-3 in conference play while LaSalle fell to 16-8 and 4-5 in the A-10.
Xavier was behind 38-33 at halftime, but carried late momentum into the second half and took a 43-42 lead, their first since the 18:49 mark of the first half, on a transition 3-pointer by senior forward Suntana Granderson just three minutes into the second half.
LaSalle regained a 52-48 lead during a 10-3 run, but Xavier answered with a run of its own, outscoring the Explorers 12-0 over the next five minutes to go up by eight points.
LaSalle got as close as five points with three minutes to play, but Granderson nailed a three on the ensuing possession and put the game out of reach for good.
The Musketeers held the Explorers to a chilly 23 percent shooting from the field in the second half. Clyburn and freshman forward Amber Harris blocked a combined seven shots in the second half that kept the LaSalle offense at bay.
Clyburn’s eight blocks was a new Xavier blocks record and the team’s 13 tied another Xavier record.
The previous individual blocks record by Harris on Jan. 10 when she racked up seven against Coppin State.
Harris finished the game with 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.
Xavier out-rebounded LaSalle 26-to-18 in the second half, but gave up seven offensive boards that kept LaSalle in the game longer than they should have.
While this team has a reputation for winning after trailing early in the game, Xavier teams are just 19-33 when trailing at the half under head coach Kevin McGuff.
The Musketeers’ next game is at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Saint Joseph’s. Xavier returns to Cintas Center at 2 p.m. on Sunday for an I-75 showdown with Dayton.
John LaFollette 
Sports Editor
Courtney named
A-10 Performer of the Week
Xavier University sophomore Kara Courtney was honored by the Atlantic 10 Conference last week when she received the women’s tennis Performer of the Week designation after leading the Musketeers to a pair of victories over Southern Illinois and Rutgers last weekend.
This was Courtney’s first Performer of the Week award.
Courtney, a sophomore from Newburg, Ind., played in the number two singles positions both days and used straight sets to defeat both Agata Skorupska from Southern Illinois, 6-2, 6-3, and Rutgers’ Katherine Arlak, 6-3, 6-4. She is now 3-1 this season in singles play in the number two position.
In doubles, Courtney paired with senior Jackie Vilines to post two more victories in the number one position. The Xavier duo defeated Ame Blacketer and Vianna Ce from SIU, 8-5, and scored an 8-6 win over Polina Zaretser & Arlak from Rutgers. For the season, Courtney owns a 2-2 doubles record.
Xavier is off to a 4-1 start this season, and the Musketeers will be back in action at 1 p.m. this Saturday with a contest at Bowling Green.
Men’s tennis falls to Western Michigan, continues skid
The Xavier men’s tennis team fell to the Western Michigan University Broncos by a score of 6-1 on Saturday afternoon in Kalamazoo, Mich. The Broncos, ranked 56th in the country, improved to 3-3 for the season while the Musketeers slipped to 1-4.
Sophomore Mike Dieciuc won the lone singles match for Xavier as he downed WMU’s Alejandro Staub 7-5, 3-6, 10-6 in the number four position. In number three singles, sophomore Ra’ees Ismail took Bryan Norville to a tiebreaking set but fell 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. Western Michigan won all three doubles matches.
The Musketeers return to action this weekend, hosting Youngstown State at 6 p.m. on Saturday and Cleveland State at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Both contests will be played at the Eastern Hills Tennis Club.
